Holy Tuesday

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Tuesday – Maybe this is the end?

The last few years have been fun, haven’t they? Obviously not. I am not making light, and I am picking sides. What I am saying is, everyone has suffered. Everyone has had their life changed, altered, or turned upside down because of the events we’ve gone through collectively. Some more than others, some worse than others for sure, but none of us were, or are, immune.  When we suffer, it makes us think about the end. The end our suffering,…

this time feels different

Mark 11:27–28(ESV) ~ And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” This time feels different. They’ve been here before. Jerusalem. The city has never been great to them, but the moments of fear and tension have always passed. Usually the…

Telling stories

It was just another story. Of this Peter was forcing himself to be sure. Just like all the others ones he’d heard Jesus tell over the three years they had been together. Another “story” about the kingdom of God that was difficult to comprehend. It couldn’t possibly mean what it seemed to at first glance. Surely Jesus wasn’t ACTUALLY saying that this would be the end. His emotions were still running high from the whole table incident yesterday, and things…

Tuesday – truths from trees

Mark 11:12–14 (ESV)On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. He is yelling at a tree. He was…

Cleaning House

My wife and I are not the housecleaning type. It’s not like we live in a pigsty or anything - we do clean the house. It’s just that, given the choice between hanging out with each other or the kids and scrubbing toilets and washing floors, we will always choose the former. Growing up, my parents kept the house incredibly tidy. Floors were washed and vacuumed every Saturday, bathrooms were cleaned weekly, and beds were made on a daily basis.…

Tuesday – ‘a walk to remember’

The walk from Bethany to Jerusalem is less than two miles. The average walking speed of a human is 3.1 miles per hour. This means that the walk to and from Jerusalem each day took Jesus about an hour and a half round trip. That’s a lot of time to think and talk, especially when you’re awaiting something as stressful and traumatizing as death by crucifixion. Conversations with friends and followers are probably a welcome distraction, but also hard, as…

Table turning Tuesday

Have you ever flipped a table? I have, but only when trying to put them away. I’ve always thought there would be something intensely gratifying about flipping one just for the sake of making the statement ‘I AM ANGRY ABOUT SOMETHING!’ Movies and television shows make it look so easy, but those things can be heavy. Anger is a funny thing to me. It seems so inappropriate most of the time. Like it’s something to be avoided. I tell my…